Some of you here are so lucky!!!

[Pressed_Flowers]

I just love reading all the posts here about all the different AG things but I can't help but get jealous. I can't even begin to fathom what it must be like for all of your daughters to be able to have so many dolls and a lot of their collections when I didn't get my Felicity till I was 18. And my parent's and my financial state doesn't allow me to collect much, it's taken me three years to get all of Felicity's non retired clothes (with the exception of the breeches I got cheap on Ebay by some amazing luck).

Someday I know I will eventually own all of Felicity's stuff and display it proudly and eventually include Elizabeth, Kirsten, Samantha and Nellie.

So everybody cherish their collections no matter how small or big. I know I don't have much for my Lissie but I can't think of a more loved doll because she means so much to me; the start of recapturing the childhood I wanted and never had.

<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ January 02, 2006 09:33 PM: Message edited by: The Brightly Colored Moth ]</font>

[GreyMyst]

I cheat, hehe. ALL of my girls(and boy) have come through fantastic strokes of luck.

I am not much into the clothes, so I make my own. I don't really like the idea of having the same outfit as 50,000+ other people on my doll.

[perndragon]

I have loved AG since the third grade and am now in my mid twenties and I only recently got my doll in August and then some outfits for Christmas all of you who have been able to buy and love this stuff for years are indeed lucky and I am lucky to have found a group of people who love something I love!

[prasnlrd]

Originally posted by The Brightly Colored Moth:
I just love reading all the posts here about all the different AG things but I can't help but get jealous. I can't even begin to fathom what it must be like for all of your daughters to be able to have so many dolls and a lot of their collections when I didn't get my Felicity till I was 18. And my parent's and my financial state doesn't allow me to collect much, it's taken me three years to get all of Felicity's non retired clothes (with the exception of the breeches I got cheap on Ebay by some amazing luck).

Someday I know I will eventually own all of Felicity's stuff and display it proudly and eventually include Elizabeth, Kirsten, Samantha and Nellie.

So everybody cherish their collections no matter how small or big. I know I don't have much for my Lissie but I can't think of a more loved doll because she means so much to me; the start of recapturing the childhood I wanted and never had.

<font color="#051E50"><font size="1">[ January 02, 2006 09:33 PM: Message edited by: The Brightly Colored Moth ]</font></font>

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Do not be jealous , you and your dollie are so blessed. You have more for your Felicity than "tons" of clothes and accessories and that is your unfaltering love, devotion, and graditude. Quality is always better than quantity! [img]wink.gif[/img]

[img]graemlins/island.gif[/img] [img]wink.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/island.gif[/img]

[lucybelle]

Prasnlrd's right: if you had all of the money in the world and could buy whatever AG items you wanted, then it wouldn't be much fun (at least that's what my mom and I have always said). It's the challenge and reward when you get a good deal or can finally afford a new piece. I feel fortunate with all that I have but feel bad that I don't always play with it as much as I wish. It's almost like it's funner to dream about than have. But I still cherish my girls. Don't worry, you'll gather up a collection. It wasn't until much more recently that we have been putting a LOT of effort into our collection, mostly due to spending less elsewhere, like on weekend shopping days due to boredom. Ash.

<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ January 02, 2006 10:35 PM: Message edited by: lucybelle ]</font>

[mystere]

I can relate. I grew up very poor and all my money I earned and every gift I asked for was for my Kirsten collection. It took me until this month to finish her collection except the trunk. I'll be getting the trunk at AGPLA when it opens.

For years and years I only had Kirsten and Felicity (Felicity was my sister's childhood doll, but she's not really a doll person now), and though I had a lot of stuff for them it had taken me since I was about nine to acquire it all. Then, after I was about 25, I got a very large collection going. I sold it all last summer to pay grad school tuition when times were tough, except for my childhood things. They have a great deal of sentimental value to them and I remember a lot through them... the Christmas Grandma gave me Kirsten's table and chairs, the year Santa brought me Kirsten's bed, and the best year of all... when my mother skimped and saved to buy me Kirsten. And the little clothes and accessories I bought with money I earned and saved for months and months.

It's no wonder that the rest of my collection, aside from my childhood stuff, I will sell if I ever need the money. But I really value the work, love, and years of dedication I've had to Kirsten, as well as the lovely gift of Felicity's collection from my little sister after she determined she no longer wanted her.

My house finally sold last fall and my collection is now bigger than it ever was. At 27, I have the collection I always dreamed of as a child. I enjoy it a lot. But my real loves are those things I bought a little bit at a time for my precious Kirsten, and remembering playing with my little sister when I look at Felicity. I will never enjoy the rest of my collection that I acquired rapidly for fun the way I enjoy those remnants of my childhood that I painstakingly collected over nearly a decade. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[SweetSam]

Hi Brightly Colored Moth--I love your nickname. [img]smile.gif[/img] I'm in the same boat financially with all my college expenses, and I can really relate.

If it makes you feel better, my only doll is also a Felicity that I got for Christmas a while ago. I haven't been able to afford any more clothes for her yet. [img]frown.gif[/img] I've been into Pleasant Company and AG since I was about 10, and it was hard then too becuase my mom couldn't afford the dolls either. As you might imagine, I spent A LOT of of time drolling over the catalogs. [img]smile.gif[/img] Sam is still my dream doll, (hence my nickname) and I hope to get her when I'm out of school.

For now, I think I'm going to focus on making inexpensive backdrops and homemade furniture and accesories for my Felicity out of odds and ends. I might even attempt to make a sari for her (I don't sew, but it seems like it would be easy because a sari is just a long piece of fabric wrapped in a fancy way). A saw a thread about it, and I got inspired. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Maybe these suggestions will help you too? Just wanted to let you that you're not alone, and you made me feel better knowing that I'm not the only one with a highly limited doll budget.

[AGTeacher]

I also can relate. I did not buy my first AG til two years ago! I did not get one as a child. But cause my mother thought I would not play with the doll as I was more into animals and played more with MLP.

And right now, I sold alot and I mean alot of my Disney collection to purchase most of my AG items.

[moderator]

This is such a nice post. [img]smile.gif[/img] I, too, never had a lot for my AGs. My parents refused to buy the dolls--too expensive, etc. Just about everything I have for them was homemade. Crafting for my dolls has helped me add to my collection.

Sometimes I also read the posts and think people have so much. If I keep reading the posts about how much people have, I get an attack of the "gimmes" (not even necessarily for AG items! It just makes me feel bad and then want more, in general).

It helps me to avoid any threads that are lists of things people ordered, "won" from eBay, received in an order, are waiting for in an order, etc. Sometimes the board seems to contain a lot about what people are ordering or waiting for in their orders. I'd rather read about how we enjoy the collections we have, no matter how big or small, how we like the AG stories, how we craft for dolls, etc. Because of this, it helps me if I avoid certain threads. It's not that I'm upset with anyone or anything (and I know others here truly enjoy reading about what others are getting) . . . it's just that after being on the board for years I know what type of post isn't really a positive experience for me to read, personally. It helps me not to feel bad, and I recommend skipping certain topics if it will help you keep from feeling bad! [img]graemlins/girl_hug.gif[/img]

It sounds like you have a wonderful collection, and you should never feel bad at having one that is smaller than others. In fact, some people here realize all of a sudden theirs have gotten "too big," and downsize! A while back I gave my AGT items to foster care.

The other thing that helps me is to keep a "running wishlist." I just keep adding and adding to it. I keep track of anything I want, and then it's given to my parents for holiday ideas. Sometimes it helps me just to get my "wants" written down on paper . . . even if I never get them! [img]wink.gif[/img]

<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ January 02, 2006 11:58 PM: Message edited by: Melissa ]</font>

[monimarine]

AG's weren't around til I was a teenager and I had never heard of them until 3 years ago. When I was a kid, my parents couldn't even afford to let me keep a Cabbage Patch as a gift, because they felt that not having an extra $100 to spend on my two brothers was not fair. I missed out on alot of things.

We usually only get dolls on birthday/Christmas or special occasions so far. We've even had to sell Kailey and Felicity to help pay for some unexpected car troubles.

I guess now I like being able to get DD what she wants, things that she doesn't feel left out not having, the way I did as a little girl. AG's are something I like doing with her and I'll encourage her to read and have play that works her imagination as long as she loves the girls.

That is all that matters- that you love the one or ones you have!! [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img] [img]smile.gif[/img]